


Gordian Knot

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Knitting, Prompt Fic, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29376270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: "Cutting the Gordian Knot": Finding a bold solution to an impossible problem.Ruby always forgets the gloves Christina bought her but she never forgets the scarf Leti made for her. It's only logical, Christina thinks, that if she knits gloves for Ruby, then Ruby won't forget them anymore.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Gordian Knot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with another challenge prompt from the fandom! I had actually already planned a Valentine's Day fic to post this week (you can definitely look forward to it on Sunday) but I just had to participate to another challenge. Even more challenging this time as we had a limit of only 1500 words, rather than 2000 last time. I went a bit overboard at first but after some cuts I did it!  
> The prompt for this story was "Person A notices that Person B hasn’t been wearing gloves, even in the drastically cold temperatures they’ve been experiencing. So Person A takes on the task of knitting them a new pair." My first idea was that Ruby would be the one knitting but there is no doubt in my mind that she knows how to do it. Christina on the other hand... So unsurprisingly, I went with the more comically-inclined option.  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you'll enjoy this short one-shot and I'll see you on Sunday for a much longer one!

It would be cruel to go outside. The streets are packed with a foot of snow that won't melt away. The air is cold, so crisp it hurts any expose skin. When the wind picks up, it grazes past you like an arrow, scraping through clothes and leaving a permanent chill through your bones. As days go by and the weather keeps worsening, Christina is pushing for Ruby to quit her job, because it's too cold to go out, and they should just stay in bed until spring. Still, Ruby manages to drag her out, one Sunday, to go ice skating in the park with Leti and George.

  
Christina is bundled up in her coat and seven-year-old George is making fun of her for it, but she doesn't care. Her scarf is up to her nose, her hat down to her eyes, and her gloved hands stuffed in her pockets. George is wearing his father's old blades as he glides quickly over the pond amidst other children. Leti is standing by the snowy shores taking pictures. Ruby and Christina have found a wooden bench as cold as a block of ice, but it's better than remaining standing with snow up to their knees.

  
From the pond, George is waving at them wildly. He's trying to skate backward, which his mom is none too pleased about. He falls backward and slides on the thick ice for a bit.

  
"I'm okay!" he shouts before Leti can come to help him.

  
With a hop, he's back on his feet and off to try again. Christina looks back at Ruby who is rubbing her hands together and blowing on them. She frowns.

  
"Did you lose your gloves again?"

  
"I didn't lose them, I just forgot them. It's fine."

  
"Here, take mine," Christina says as she begins pulling her gloves off.

  
Icy air bites into her wrist and she shivers, but she ignores the pain and pulls them off further. Until Ruby stops her.

  
"Keep them, I'm fine."

  
Christina hesitates. She doesn't understand why Ruby always forgets her gloves at home. Christina keeps buying her gloves and they pile up around the house and never serve. At least she never forgets her scarf, even if it's not the one Christina gave her. It's the one Leti gave her for Christmas. It's not fancy, just a single strip of red yarn, but it serves its purpose.

  
"You're sure?" Christina asks, the glove still half-fitted on her hand.

  
"Yeah, it's fine. I never had gloves in winter when I was a kid and I still got all my fingers."

  
Christina secures the gloves back on her hand.

  
"Here."

  
She takes Ruby's hands in hers. They are so cold she can feel it through the leather of her gloves. She holds onto them a bit tighter and rubs the chilled skin, trying to bring some warmth back into them. Christina decides then that if Ruby doesn't want her gifted gloves, she would make her a pair, so she would be sure Ruby would wear them.

* * *

By the beginning of the following week, the north wind has been chased away and Christina feels comfortable enough to go outside. She finds a fabric store. She buys crimson red yarn and needles and a booklet called 'Gloves, Mittens & More'. The woman at the shop warns her that gloves are difficult to make. She doesn't listen.

  
Christina settles down in the living room in front of the fire and flips through the brochure until she finds the instructions to make gloves. Already she doesn't understand any of the given instructions. She flips back to the beginning of the brochure and thankfully, there's a 'How to start' section. She reads through it twice and goes to work.

  
The beginning is much more difficult than she's imagined. The yarn keeps slipping off the needle to the point that Christina wonders if she's doing something wrong. She checks the instructions again, tries again, but she seems to be doing exactly as they describe. She does a few stitches and eventually notices something doesn't look right. She's made a knot, and no matter how much she tries, it seemed she can't untie it. She takes the scissors and cuts the needle free from the yarn. She starts again.

  
She tries. She gives up. She takes a break to get a drink. She tries again. It doesn't work. Why doesn't it work? It's just yarn and needles and still, she keeps making knots, again and again. Suddenly she understands why it took three women to weave the tapestry of life. She tries all afternoon and stops shortly before Ruby returns from work. She stashes everything under the couch in a paper bag and picks up her book. When Ruby arrives, tired and cold, she's none the wiser.

  
Christina continues her deception for two more long and frustrating days. She uses up the entirety of one of her yarn balls trying to start. By the third afternoon, she thinks she finally gets the hang of it. She loses herself in the work but manages to make what she imagines will soon become the backhand of the glove. Finally, she's on track. If she keeps it up, she assumes Ruby will have her gloves before the end of the week. She's so immersed in her work that she doesn't even hear the car pulling up in the driveway. She doesn't hear Ruby rush to the door to avoid the gentle flurry falling through the dusky air. It's only when the door opens that Christina's attention snaps away from her work. She feels panic rise from her chest and into her brain.

  
"It's snowing again," Ruby says as she takes off her coat and shoes. "Let me guess, you're not going out until April?"

  
"No... I mean, make that until June..."

  
Ruby chuckles from the foyer while Christina pushes her panic down and forces herself to move. She picks up everything on the table and stashes them into the bag. However, before she can hide the bag under the couch, Ruby is already near her. She remembers just in time that it would be stupid to throw it all in the fireplace and instead lets the bag fall behind the couch, between the wall and the backrest.

  
Ruby settles on the couch near Christina and instinctively the blonde wraps her arm around her.

  
"I'm beat. Don't wake me up tomorrow I'm sleeping all weekend."

  
"How about a bath?" Christina suggests.

  
"Only if you join me."

  
Christina smiles and kisses the crown of Ruby's head. Ruby leans away just enough to let the blonde stand up.

  
"I'll get it started."

  
"I'll be right there."

  
Christina walks upstairs quickly. Ruby sighs and stretches her arms over her head. She frowns when her hand hits something. She turns around. There's a paper bag stuck between the wall and the backrest. She picks it up and opens it. Inside, she finds a yarn ball, knitting needles, a knitting guide, and a bunch of small pieces of stitched yarn. Is this what Christina does all day? Knit? Why hasn't she told her? Ruby wonders if the blonde feared she was going to make fun of her for the hobby.

  
She walks upstairs and through their bedroom to the bathroom, where Christina is pouring bath salts in the water.

  
"I'm surprised you decided to pick up knitting, seeing as you can barely sew."

  
Christina's entire body grows rigid as if frozen in place despite her hand being in warm water. Slowly she turns to look at Ruby and the paper bag in her hand.

  
"You could have told me, you know? I wouldn't have made fun of you."

  
"That wasn't why I..."

  
Christina stands up and clears her throat.

  
"I wanted it to be a surprise," she explains as she sits on the edge of the tub. "Because you never wear the gloves I bought for you, but you wear the scarf your sister made for you. So I thought if I made you gloves..."

  
Ruby smiles. She sets the paper bag on a nearby shelf and walks up to Christina. She takes her hands in hers.

  
"I love you and it was a very sweet idea, but you really don't have to do it if you don't like knitting. It's not that I don't appreciate your gifts, it's that I'm not really used to wearing gloves. Sometimes I just forget to take them. And you know, the only reason Leti knit me a scarf is because she doesn't know how to knit anything else."

  
Christina chuckles and Ruby kisses her.

  
"I love you too," Christina says once they part.

  
She moves her hands to hold Ruby by the waist and brings her a bit closer.

  
"But I'm finishing those gloves if it's the last thing I do. I'm not losing to a ball of yarn."

  
Ruby laughs and lets the blonde pull her into another kiss.


End file.
